DENVER, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accelr8 Technology Corp. has been awarded U.S. Patent 7,067,194 for devices that use its OptiChem(R) surface chemistry, including those for patient specimen collection and analytical products. The new patent also covers coating variations not specifically included in prior patents. Accelr8 previously licensed certain OptiChem applications to other companies in the biomedical industry. Accelr8 is now developing its BACcelr8r(TM) rapid bacterial diagnostic system that will use OptiChem in its single-use analytical cassette. In addition, the company plans to develop related disposable products for handling patient specimens prior to analysis.
In BACcelr8r development, OptiChem helps prevent bacterial adhesion to the walls of specimen containers and fluidic passages inside of the analytical cartridge. The coating has exceptional properties that prevent bacteria, mammalian cells and sticky biomolecules from attaching to surfaces and being lost to analysis.
This is important because sample loss leads to analytical errors and compromises sensitivity. Particularly with critical, low-content patient samples, loss of rare targets may lead to analytical failure.
David Howson, Accelr8's president, said, "New technology makes it possible to quickly analyze less sample material than ever. In our case, we analyze each individual bacterial cell that the BACcelr8r extracts from the sample. Other diagnostic products could also benefit from low-loss specimen handling. Examples include those that use gene amplification. They create millions of gene copies for analysis so they can be detected from very little starting material. They need to avoid losing the original content.
"Our research shows that standard lab containers and materials may lose a large and variable percentage of the cells during sample preparation because of adhesion to container walls. This creates an opportunity for new disposable products to handle patient specimens in critical applications. We need low-loss components to support the BACcelr8r because we eliminate culturing and work only with cells that come directly out of the patient. We need every cell.
"The patents include descriptions of surfaces that reduce bacterial adhesion. They also describe OptiChem surfaces for mammalian cell culturing. Future applications might include familiar areas such as containers for stem cell culturing. We also work with a leading European lab to characterize OptiChem's anti-fouling properties in serum, urine, saliva and other specimens.
"OptiChem bonds to most standard labware materials, such as glass and plastics. It allows modifications to tailor its properties to specific needs, as we've done in the microarray space."
Accelr8 is developing the BACcelr8r platform to provide eight-hour comprehensive analysis of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. It eliminates the need for culturing and strain isolation, which are the current standard methods and require at least 24 hours.
About Accelr8
Accelr8 Technology Corp. (www.accelr8.com) is a developer of innovative materials and instrumentation for advanced applications in medical diagnostics, basic research, drug discovery and bio-detection. Accelr8 is developing a new diagnostic platform, the BACcelr8r(TM), based on its proprietary surface coatings, assay processing and detection technologies. The company intends the BACcelr8r to become the world's first diagnostic system to provide bacterial identification and quantification in two hours or less, and complete antibiotic resistance strain identification in eight hours or less. Standard culturing typically delays lab results from one to three days, which is far beyond the short time window that physicians have available to assure adequate initial therapy for a life-threatening hospital acquired infection (HAI).
Accelr8 Technology Corp.CONTACT: John Metzger of Metzger Associates, +1-303-786-7000, ext. 2202,john@metzger.com, for Accelr8 Technology Corp.; or David Howson of Accelr8Technology Corp., +1-303-863-8088, david.howson@accelr8.com
